Czech. Vacation in the Czech Republic: how to communicate without knowledge of the Czech language Czech words necessary for communication

Therefore, remembering something from the school curriculum of one of the European languages, getting directions if you get lost in the narrow streets of Prague is not a problem. Almost all restaurants and pubs have a menu in English or at least one waiter who speaks good English, the same is true with shops, a little worse with. And, fortunately for tourists from Russia, most of the older generation of native Prague residents understand and speak Russian quite well, thanks to our common socialist past. In general, you can go to Prague even without knowing the Czech language - in any situation there will be an opportunity to explain yourself and understand your interlocutor.

However, when going on vacation, it is always better to know a few of the most necessary expressions and words in the language of the country you are going to. The easiest way, perhaps, is to buy a small phrasebook, or select the phrases you think you need on the Internet before leaving. If you didn’t remember this in time, or simply didn’t have enough time, here is a small selection of simple phrases and words that may be useful to you during your holidays in beautiful Prague.

Words and expressions that will definitely be useful to you:

Phrases that may be useful when shopping:

Phrases that will help you navigate the city:

Phrases we hope you won't need:

The Czech language, along with Russian, Finnish and Thai, is considered one of the most difficult languages ​​in the world. Czech, like Russian, is a Slavic language, however, despite this, for Russian ears the Czech language is quite unusual in the presence of a large number of consonants, and in some Czech words there are no vowels at all: for example, finger - prst, neck - krk, and the wolf is vlk. Also, many Czech words and their meanings may seem funny or confusing to you:

No tourist can spend their holiday without communicating at least minimally with the locals. Traveling around the Czech Republic used to be easy, since Russian was taught in schools. Now everything is different, Czechs study English and German. But it doesn’t matter: if you remember the basic Czech words for tourists, your vacation will be successful.

Our Russian-Czech phrasebook with translation and transcription includes the most necessary phrases in Czech so that you can easily communicate in a cafe, hotel, store, exchange currency or purchase the necessary tickets or services.

Russian-Czech phrasebook: standard phrases for communication

The Czech Republic is a European country with a Slavic soul; our tourists find it pleasant and comfortable to travel around the Czech land. Let's learn a minimum set of Czech words so that your holiday in Europe goes on a positive note.

The phrasebook includes the most necessary Czech words for tourists with translation and transcription. Our goal is to learn as many words as possible so that any of your communication in public places occurs without problems.

• Hello (Good afternoon) – Dobry den (good day)
• Good evening – Dobry vecer (good evening)
• Hello (Good morning) – Dobre rano (good early)
• Good night – Dobrou noc (good night)
• Bye – Ahoj (agoy)
• All the best – Mete se hezky (mneite se geski)
• Yes – Ano (ano)
• No – Ne (ne)
• Please – Prosim (we ask)
• Thank you – Dekuji
• Thank you very much – Mockrat dekuji
• Sorry – Prominte (prominte)
• I beg your pardon – Omlouvam se (omlouvam se)
• Do you speak Russian? – Mluvite rusky? (mluvite ruski?)
• Do you speak English? – Mluvite anglicky? (mluvite English?)
• Unfortunately, I don't speak Czech – Bohuzel, nemluvim cesky (bohuzel nemluvim cesky)
• I don’t understand – Nerozumim (unreasonable)
• I understand - Rozumim (let's understand)
• You understand? - Rozumite? (rosumite?)
• Where is…? – Kde je...? (where the f...?)
• Where are...? – Kde jsou...? (where is ysou...?)
• What is your name? – Jak se jmenujes? (how do you call it?)
• What is your name? – Jak se jmenujete? (yak se imenuete?)
• My name is... – Jmenuji se... (ymenui se)
• This is Mr. Novak - To je pan Novak (that is, pan Novak)
• Very nice – Tesi me (Tesh me)
• You are very kind (kind) – Jste velmi laskav (laskava) (yste velmi laskav (laskava))
• This is Mrs. Novak - To je pani Novakova (that is, Mrs. Novakova)
• Where were you born? – Kde jste se narodil(a)? (Where did ste se give birth?)
• I was born in Russia – Narodil(a) jsem se v Rusku (narodil(a) jsem se v Rusku)
• Where are you from? – Odkud jste? (okkud yste)?)
• I am from Russia – Jsem z Ruska (ysem z Ruska)
• Very good. And you? - Velmi good. A vy? (Velmi is kinder. And you?)
• How are you doing? – Jak se mas? (yak se mash?)
• How are you doing? – Jak se mate? (yak se mate?)
• How old are you? – Kolik je ti let? (koli e ti let?)
• How old are you? – Kolik je Vam let? (how old are you?
• Does anyone here speak English? – Mluvi tady nekdo anglicky? (mluvi tada negdo anglitski?)
• Can you speak slowly? – Muzete mluvit pomaleji? (muzhete mluvt pomalei?)
• Could you write this for me? – Muzete mi to prosim napsat? (muzhete mi then ask for napsat?)
• Give me, please... - Prosim vas, podejte mi... (we ask you, podejte mi)
• Could you give us...? – Nemohl(a) byste dat nam, prosim...? (what can we ask for a quicker date?)
• Show me, please... – Ukazte mi, prosim... (indicate mi we ask...)
• Could you tell me...? – Muzete mi, prosim rici...? (muzhete mi asking for a laugh?)
• Could you help me? – Muzete mi, prosim pomoci? (muzhete mi ask for help?)
• I would like... – Chteel bych.. (would like)
• We would like... – Chteli bychom.. (chteli bychom)
• Give me, please... - Dejte mi, prosim... (dejte mi we ask)
• Show me... – Ukazte mi... (point mi)

Czech words for tourists to clear customs

The Czech Republic is part of the Schengen countries. Foreign citizens can freely import and export Czech and foreign currency, but amounts over CZK 200,000 must be declared.

As throughout the European Union, the import and export of meat and dairy products, including canned food, is prohibited. The exception is baby food, as well as dietary food (subject to the appropriate medical certificate). To avoid problems during customs control, learn Czech words for tourists to communicate at the border.

• Passport control – Pasova kontrola (pass kontrola)
• Here is my passport - Tady je muj pas (tady e muj pas)
• I'm here to relax - Jsem tu na dovolene (ysem tu na dovolene)
• I’m here on business – Jsem tu sluzebne (yesem tu sluzebne)
• Sorry, I don’t understand – Prominte, nerozumim (prominte nerozumim)
• Customs – Celnice
• I have nothing to declare – Nemam nic k procleni (nemam prostrate to procleni)
• I only have things for personal use - Mam jen veci osobni potreby (Mam jen veci osobni potreby)
• This is a gift - To je darek (that is, darek)

How to explain yourself without knowing Czech in public places

Knowing even a few basic phrases in Czech will enrich your travel experience. You will find that locals are very supportive of tourists who try to speak Czech.

• Input – Vchod (input)
• Output Vychod Output
• Entry is prohibited – Vchod zakazan (entry denied)
• Closed – Zavreno (closed)
• Open – Otevreno
• Free – Volno (wave)
• Attention – Shame
• Not working – Mimo provoz (passing transportation)
• To yourself – Sem (sam)
• From myself – Tam (there)
• Where can I get a taxi? – Kde muzu sehnat taxi? (Where is the taxi for my husband?)
• How much will it cost to get to the airport (to the metro station, to the city center)? – Kolik bude stat cesta na letiste (k metru, do centra mesta)? (how long will it be stat cesta on letishte (to the master, to the center of the place)?)
• Here is the address where I need to go - Tady je adresa, kam potrebuji (tady je adresa kam potrebuji)
• Take me to the airport (to the station, to the hotel) – Zavezte me na letiste (na nadrazi, k hotelu) (zavezte me na letiste (na nadrazi, to gotel))
• To the left – Doleva (doleva)
• To the right – Doprava (doprava)
• Stop here, please – Zastavte tady, prosim (zastavte tady, we ask)
• Could you wait for me? – Nemohli byste pockat, prosim? (Could you please give me a quick delivery, please?)
• Help! - Pomoc! (help!)
• Call the police – Zavolejte policii (zavolejte police)
• Fire! – Hori! (gorgee!)
• Call a doctor – Zavolejte doktora (zavolejte doktora)
• I'm lost - Zabloudil jsem (I got lost)
• We were robbed - Byli jsme okradeni (were ysme okradeni)
• Where is the nearest exchange office? – What do you mean by smenarna? (where is the nearest one)
• Do you accept traveler's checks? – Prijimate cestovi seky? (prishiimate tsestovni sheki?)
• I want to exchange one hundred dollars – Chtel bych vymenit sto dolaru (I would like to exchange one hundred dollars)
• What's the rate today? – Jaky mate dnes kurs? (Where is the nearest place?)
• Please give me larger banknotes - Prosil bych vetsi bankovky (I would like to ask for old banknotes)
• It doesn’t matter – To je jedno (that’s the same)

Numerals in Czech

Without knowledge of numerals, it is difficult to explain yourself in a store, ticket office, cafe, restaurant or exchange office in any country in the world. Here the slightest misunderstanding can lead to problems, so keep a notepad and pen handy so that you can write the required numbers on paper if necessary.

• 0 – Nula (null)
• 1 – Jeden (yeden0
• 2 – Dva (two)
• 3 – Tri (trshi)
• 4 – Ctyri (chtyrzhi)
• 5 – Pet (drinks)
• 6 – Sest (shest)
• 7 – Sedm (sedm)
• 8 – Osm (osum)
• 9 – Devet
• 10 – Deset (deset)
• 11 – Jedenact (edenatst)
• 12 – Dvanact (dvanatst)
• 13 – Trinact (trshinatst)
• 14 – Ctrnact (four times)
• 15 – Patnact
• 16 – Sestnact
• 17 – Sedmnact (sedumnatst)
• 18 – Osmnact (osumnatst)
• 19 – Devatenact (devatenatst)
• 20 – Dvacet (double)
• 21 – Dvacet jedna (dvacet jedna)
• 22 – Dvacet dva (dvacet dva)
• 30 – Tricet
• 40 – Ctyricet
• 50 – Padesat (padesat)
• 60 – Sedesat (shadesat)
• 70 – Sedmdesat (sedumdesat)
• 80 – Osmdesat (osumdesat)
• 90 – Devadesat (devadesat)
• 100 – Sto (one hundred)
• 101 – Sto jeden (one hundred eden)
• 200 – Dveste (dvieste)
• 300 –Ttrista (three hundred)
• 400 – Ctyrista (four zhista)
• 500 – Pet set (drinks set)
• 600 – Sestset (shestset)
• 700 – Sedmset (sedmset)
• 800 – Osmset (osumset)
• 900 – Devetset (devetset)
• 1 000 – Tisic (tisits)
• 1 100 –Ttisic sto (tisits one hundred)
• 2,000 – Dva tisice (two tisice)
• 10,000 – Deset tisic (deset tisits)
• 100,000 – Sto tisic (one hundred tisits)
• 1,000,000 – (Jeden) milion ((eden) million)

Czech phrases for a hotel

It's great if you have a translator app on your phone for real-time communication. With it, there is no longer any need to learn even basic Czech words. For tourists without the ability to speak foreign languages, this is a real lifesaver. There can be no problems in hotels, since the staff mostly speaks Russian.

• Do you have rooms available? – Mate volne pokoje? (mate wave alone)
• How much does a room with shower cost per night? – Kolik stoji pokoj se sprchou za den? (kolik stand rest se sprhou for dan)
• Unfortunately, everything is busy with us - Lituji, mame vsechno obsazeno (Lituji, mame vsechno obsazeno)
• I would like to reserve a room for two in the name of Pavlov – Chtel bych zarezervovat dvouluzkovy pokoj na jmeno Pavlov (chtel bych zarezervovat dvouluzkovy peace on ymeno Pavlov)
• Room for one – Jednoluzkovy pokoj (Jednoluzkovy peace)
• Cheaper room – Levnejsi pokoj (levneyshi peace)
• Not very expensive – Ne moc drahe (ne moc drage)
• For how many days? - Na jak dlouho? (how long?)
• For two days (for a week) – Na dva dny (na jeden tyden) (for two days (na jeden tyden))
• I want to cancel the order – Chci zrusit objednavku (chci destroys objednavku)
• It is far? – Je to daleko? (is that far?)
• It’s very close – Je to docela blizko (that’s very close)
• What time is breakfast served? – V kolik se podava snidane? (v kolik se poda snidane?)
• Where is the restaurant? – Where do you restaurace? (where e restaurace)
• Please prepare an invoice for me – Pripravte mi ucet, prosim (Pripravte mi ucet, prosim)
• Please call me a taxi – Zavolejte mi taxi, prosim (zavolejte mi taxi we ask)

Czech phrases for shopping

Let us repeat that Czechs really appreciate it when a foreign tourist tries to pronounce phrases in their native language. Don't worry: you will never be interrupted or made an object of ridicule.

And by starting a conversation in Czech, you will immediately start earning “bonuses”. In a store, shopping center, or market, they will offer you the best product, give you a discount, and advise you on what is best to choose. What is not an argument to start learning basic Czech words for tourists?

• Could you give it to me? – Muzete mi prosim dat tohle? (muzhete mi ask dat togle?)
• Show me, please, this - Ukazte mi prosim tohle (indicate mi prosim tohle)
• I would like... – Chtel bych... (I would like...)
• Give me this, please – Dejte mi to, prosim (dejte mi we ask)
• Show me this - Ukazte mi tohle (indicate mi tohle)
• How much does it cost? – Kolik to stoji? (how long are you standing?)
• I need... - Potrebuji... (potrebuji)
• I'm looking for... - Hledam... (hledam)
• You have… ? – Mate...? (mate...?)
• Sorry – Skoda (Skoda)
• This is all – Je to vsechno (that’s vsehno)
• I don’t have change – Nemam drobne (nemam drobne)
• Please write this - Napiste to prosim (write this, we ask)
• Too expensive – Prilis drahe
• Sale – Vyprodej
• I would need a size... – Potreboval(a) bych velikost... (potreboval(a) velikost)
• My size is XXL – Mam velikost XXL (mam velikost x-x-el)
• Don't you have another color? – Nemate to v jine barve? (nemate to in yine barve)
• Can I try this on? – Muzu si to zkusit? (will this bite my husband?)
• Where is the fitting room located? – What about prevlekaci kabina? (where is the prševlekatsi cabin)
• What do you wish? - Co si prejete, prosim? (tso si prsheete we ask)
• Thank you, I’m just looking – Dekuji, jen se divam (dekuji, en se divam)
• Bread – Chleba (bread)
• Cigarettes – Cigarety (cigarettes)
• Water – Voda (water)
• Milk – Mleko (milk)
• Fresh squeezed juice – Čerstvě vymačkané šťávy
• Beer – Pivo (beer)
• Wine – Vína (wines)
• Tea/coffee – Čaj/káva (tea/kava)
• Instant coffee – Instantní káva (instant kava)
• Sugar/salt – Cukru a soli (cukru and salt)
• Meat – Maso (maso)
• Fish – Ryba (fish)
• Chicken – Kuře (kurzhe)
• Lamb – Skopové maso (skopové maso)
• Beef – Hovězí maso (govezi maso)
• Potatoes – Brambory (brambory)
• Rice – Rýže (lower)
• Vermicelli – Špagety (twine)
• Bow – Cibule (cibule)
• Garlic – Česnek (garlic)
• Fruit – Ovoce (ovoce)
• Apples – Jablka (apple)
• Oranges – Pomeranče (pomeranian)
• Lemon – Citron (citron)
• Grapes – Hrozny
• Bananas – Banány (banana)

Czech words that are funny to us

To prevent funny situations from happening to you in the Czech Republic, let’s remember funny Czech words. Funny - from our point of view, or more precisely - how they are translated. Whether to include them in your personal mini-dictionary of Czech words for tourists or not is, of course, up to you to decide, but you need to familiarize yourself with them in order to avoid misunderstandings.

• Barák (barrack) – house
• Bradavka (bradavka) – nipple on the chest
• Bydliště (bydlishte) – place of residence
• Cerstvé potraviny (stale potravini) – fresh products
• Chápat (hapat) – to understand
• Čichat (sneeze) – sniff
• Děvka (girl) – prostitute
• Kalhotky (tights) – panties
• Letadlo (letadlo) – airplane
• Matný (matte) – matte
• Mátový (matte) – mint
• Mraz (maz) – frost
• Mýdlo (thought) – soap
• Mzda (bribe) – payment
• Nevěstka (daughter-in-law) – prostitute
• Okurky (cigarette butts) – cucumbers
• Ovoce - fruit
• Pádlo (bastard) - oar
• Pitomec (pet) – fool
• Počítač (pochitach) – computer
• Pohanka (toadstool) – buckwheat
• Policie varuje (police varuje) – police warn
• Shame (shame) - attention
• Prdel (pretense) – female fifth point
• Rychlý (loose) – fast
• Sklep (crypt) – basement
• Škoda (Skoda) – loss
• Bydlo (cattle) - life living
• Skot (cattle) - Scotsman
• Šlapadlo (slapadlo) - catamaran
• Sleva (left) – discount
• Sranda (sranda) - joke, joke
• Strávit (strikes) – to hold
• Stůl (chair) – table
• Určitě (rumble) – definitely, definitely
• Úroda (freak) – harvest
• Úžasný (terrible) – beautiful, charming
• Vedro (bucket) – heat
• Voňavka (stink) – perfume
• Vozidlo (driver) – car
• Vůně (vune) – aroma
• Záchod (entrance) – toilet
• Žádný (greedy) – none
• Zakázat (order) – prohibit
• Zápach (smell) – stench
• Zapomněl (remembered) - forgot
• Zelenina (green) – vegetables

Experienced travelers, even at the stage of planning their vacation, compile their mini-dictionary in Czech. They make a Russian-Czech phrasebook with transcription on cardboard cards with exactly those phrases in Czech that they may need. This helps you quickly remember the words, but this is the twenty-first century, so download all the necessary translators to your smartphone and travel in comfort. Good luck!

Chip flights

Any trip begins with searching and purchasing tickets - this is something you can and should save on!

When searching for cheap air tickets during our travels, we use search engines such as Aviasales and Momondo.

Some rules for finding cheap air tickets can be found in this article.

Cheap housing

Every traveler, of course, wants to optimize their costs and find a good hotel (or apartment) in terms of price/quality ratio. Thus, the more options you are offered, the more likely you are to find the best one. Therefore, your search can be greatly facilitated by the Hotellook service, which searches for the best accommodation booking systems.

You don't need to compare prices on different services yourself - Hotellook will do it for you!

Insurance

To obtain a Schengen visa, as is known, the list of required documents includes an insurance policy for those traveling abroad.

When traveling to other countries where a visa is not required, taking out an insurance policy for the safety of you and your family members will also not be amiss, especially if you are traveling with children.

It is the largest aggregator in the field of travel insurance. It operates on the principle of our usual services for finding housing and air tickets. Its database contains the largest insurance companies that offer insurance for travelers abroad.

Transfer from airport

The road from the airport to the hotel or apartment after a long flight is often very exhausting. To get to your destination as quickly as possible, comfortably, without trudging around the city with heavy luggage, we often use the KiwiTaxi service - booking taxi transfers at airports and cities around the world.

Today, learning the Czech language is gradually becoming fashionable among our compatriots. And the reason for this, not least of all, is the fact that Czech belongs to the Western Slavic language group, which means it has a lot in common with Russian. Literally after a few minutes of being in the Czech Republic, you will begin to understand the meaning of many signs, the meaning of individual words and expressions, and after a few days you will probably be able to exchange a few phrases with the locals.
Those who also know another Slavic language, such as Ukrainian, will be especially lucky: these travelers will be able to almost freely understand most conversations on everyday topics.
And yet, before plunging into the language environment, let's take a closer look at its features.

All Slavic languages ​​have one common source - the Old Church Slavonic language, which was spread by the well-known Cyril and Methodius. However, if the Russian alphabet inherited the so-called Cyrillic writing of letters, then in the Czech Republic, as a European country, they began to use the Latin alphabet, adapting it to the peculiarities of the local pre-existing language using superscripts - apostrophes and acutes. Apostrophes were placed above consonants to indicate their hardness (for example, the word lekař (doctor) sounds like “doctor”) and above the vowel “e” to indicate the softness of the preceding consonant. Acutes, which look like an accent mark, to denote long vowels (á, é, í, ó, ý). To indicate a long “u”, a small circle (ů) was placed above it. These rules exist in the Czech language to this day.
Unlike Russian, the Czech language has retained a large number of archaic forms. For example, in addition to the six main cases of nouns, it also has the so-called vocative case form, the analogue of which in Russian is appeal.

A few words about the peculiarities of pronunciation in the Czech language. First of all, it should be noted that, unlike Russian, the stress here always falls on the first syllable (in polysyllabic words there is an additional stress). Now about what sounds correspond to individual letters:
the letter “c” corresponds to the sound [ts],
č is pronounced like [h],
the combination of letters ch means one sound [x],
the sound of the letter “h” resembles the Ukrainian [g], which in Russian is preserved in the exclamation “Wow!”
“ř” means either the sound [рж] or [рш], depending on its position in the word,
“š” sounds like [sh],
“ž” sounds like [zh],
"j" sounds like [th],
the letter “ň” corresponds to the sound [н].
In addition, there are a huge number of nuances associated with pronunciation, which are simply not possible to talk about in one article.

It would be nice, of course, to know a few words and expressions that can be useful in different situations when communicating with the staff of a hotel, restaurant, store and others.
Here's a small one phrasebook, containing the most common of them:

Everyday
Good morning! Good morning! [Good early!]
Good afternoon Good day! [Goodbye Dan!]
How are/are you doing? Jak se mate/maš? [Yak se mate/mash?]
Thank you, good Děkuji, dobře [Děkuji, kinder]
My name is... Jmenuji se... [Ymenui se...]
Goodbye! Na shledanou! [Na shladanou!]
Morning Ráno [Early]
Afternoon Odpoledne [Odpoledne]
Evening Večer [Evening]
Night Noc [Noc]
Today Dnes [Dnes]
Yesterday Včera [Yesterday]
Tomorrow Zitra [Zitra]
Do you speak Russian (English, German)? Mluvíte ruština (anglicky, německy?) [Mluvite ruština (English, German)?]
I don’t understand Nerozumím [Ne rosumim]
Please repeat again Řekněte to ještě jadnou, prosim [Rzhekněte to ishte ednou we ask]
Thank you Děkuji
Please Prosim [We ask]
Who/what Kdo/co [Gdo/co]
Which Jaký [Yaki]
Where/where Kde/kam [Where/kam]
How/how much Jak/kolik [Yak/kolik]
How long/when? Jak dlouho / kdy? [Yak dlougo/gdy]
Why? Proč? [Other?]
How is this in Czech? Jak ten to česky? [Yak ten to cheski?]
Can you help me? Můžete mi pomoci? [Muzhete mi pomotsi?]
Yes/no Ano/ne [Ano/not]
Sorry Promiňte [Prominte]

Tourist
Do they provide information to tourists here? Je tu turistiká informace? [Ie tu tourist information?]
I need a city plan / list of hotels Máte plan města / seznam hotelů? [Mate plan for the place / I wanted to]
When does the museum/church/exhibition open? Kdy je otevřeny museum/kostel/výstava? [Where are the museum/church/exhibitions?]

In the shop
Where can I find… ? Kde dostanu… ? [Where can I get it...?]
What is the price? Kolik to stoji? [How long are you standing?]
It's too expensive To je moc drahé [To je moc drahé]
Don't/like Ne/libi [Ne/libi]
Do you have this item in a different color/size? Máte to ještě v jiné barvě/velikosti? [Mate to yestje in ine barvier/greatness?]
I take it Vezmu si to [Vezmu si to]
Give me 100 g of cheese / 1 kg of oranges Dejte mi deset deka sýra / jadno kilo pomerančů [Dejte mi deset deka sýra / jadno kilo pomerančů]
Do you have newspapers? Máte noviny? [Mate new?]

At the restaurant
Menu please Jidelní listek, prosím
Bread Chléb [Bread]
Tea Čaj [Tea]
Coffee Káva [Kava]
With milk/sugar S mlékem/cukrem [With mlek/cukrem]
Orange juice Pomerančova št’áva [Pomerančova shtiava]
White/red/rosé wine Vino bile/Červené/Růžové [Wine bile/Červené/Růžové]
Lemonade Limonada [Lemonade]
Beer Pivo [Beer]
Water Voda [Water]
Mineral water Mineralní voda [Minerania water]
Soup Polévka [Polevka]
Fish Ryba [Fish]
Meat Maso [Maso]
Salad Salát [Salad]
Dessert Dezert [Dezert]
Fruit Ovoce [Ovoce]
Ice cream Zmrzlina [Zmrzlina]
Breakfast Snidaně [Snidaně]
Lunch Oběd [Lunch]
Dinner Večeře [Večerře]
Invoice, please Účet prosím [Account, please]

At the hotel
I booked a room with you Mám u vás reservaci [Mam you have reserve]
Is there a double room? Máte volný dvoulůžkovy pokoj? [Mate are free to peace of mind?]
With a balcony S balkónem? [With balcony]
With shower and toilet Se sprchou a WC [Se sprchou a vetse]
What is the room rate per night? Kolik stojí pokoj na noc? [Kolik stand still at night?]
With breakfast? Se snidani? [Se nidanim?]
Can I have a look around the room? Mohu se podívat na pokoj? [Can I go to rest?]
Is there another room? Máte ještě jiný pokoj? [Mate is still in peace?]
Where can I park? Kde mohu parkovat? [Where can I park?]
Bring my luggage please Můžete donést moje zavazadlo na pokoj prosím? [Muzhete mi donest moi zavazadlo ask for peace?]

Different situations
Where is the bank/exchange office? Kde je tady bank / vyméný punkt? [Where is the bank/exchange point?]
Where's the phone? Kdye mogu telefonovat? [Where can I phone?]
Where can I buy a calling card? Kde mohu dostat telefonni kartu? [Where can I get a phone card?]
I need a doctor/dentist Potřebuji lékaře/zubaře [Potrřebuji lékaře/zubaře]
Call the ambulance/police Zavolejte prosím zachrannu službu/policii [Zavolejte ask zachrannu službu/policii]
Where is the police station? Kde je policejní komisařství? [Where are the police officers of the Commissariat?]
They stole from me... Ukradli mně... [Stole my mne...]

Download and print the phrasebook (.doc format), which will be useful to you on your trip.

A little history
Each national language is directly connected both with the individual person who speaks it, and with the entire people as a whole. And, like people, it tends to change over time - to develop or, conversely, to fade, to be influenced by other languages, to transform its own rules in every possible way, and so on.
Before acquiring its current form, the Czech language underwent many different reforms and improvements. However, the most interesting fact from its history is, perhaps, that it became the official state language twice. First in the 15th century, after the basic literary norms and rules were formed, and then at the beginning of the twentieth century. Why did this happen, you ask. The thing is that at the beginning of the 17th century, after the fatal battle at the White Mountain, the Czech Republic for three whole centuries was part of the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was ruled by representatives of the German House of Habsburg. In order to strengthen their power in the occupied states, the Habsburgs tried to strengthen the influence of the German language in these territories. Despite the fact that members of the government were chosen from the circles of the German nobility, the main population of the Czech Republic still spoke their native language, moreover, it continued to develop: books and treatises were published in Czech, grammatical rules were formed, and at the end of the 19th century it was published the first Czech encyclopedia.
By the way, traces of the historical past are noticeable in the Czech Republic to this day: here tourists who speak German are still understood better than those who speak English. In 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, the independent Republic of Czechoslovakia was founded, and two years later the Czech language (more precisely, Czechoslovak) again acquired official status.

Deceptive words
Despite the fact that the Russian and Czech languages ​​have very strong similarities in vocabulary and the meaning of most words can be determined simply by inspiration, in Czech there are many so-called deceiver words. Such words sound or are written almost the same as in Russian, but have a completely different meaning. For example, the word “stůl” means table, “čerstvý” means fresh, and “smetana” means cream. Most often, the difference in values ​​causes only slight bewilderment, but there are times when it causes wild merriment among our fellow citizens. This is not surprising, because when you find out that in order to buy a fashionable dress in a store, you need to ask for a robe (Czech “roba”), the phrase “pleasant smell” does not exist in principle, because the word “zapach” means stench (with In this case, perfume in Czech sounds like “stink”), and “pitomec” is not a pet at all, but a fool; it is simply impossible to hold back a smile.

Interesting statistics
Many linguists argue that language statistics is not such a useless exercise as it might seem at first glance. In particular, based on ratings of the frequency of use of certain parts of speech or even their percentage, one can get some (albeit incomplete) idea of ​​the psychology of people speaking a particular language.
What is the national character of the Czech people, we will leave it to you to judge. We have selected here the results of some statistical studies of the Czech language and seasoned them with some interesting linguistic facts.

The most frequently used words in the Czech language are:
a (conjunctions “and”, “a” and “but”), být (to be, to be), ten (that, this), v (prepositions “on”, “by”, “in”), on (pronoun “ he"), na (prepositions “to”, “in”, “for”, “from”), že (prepositions “from”, “from”), s (se) (preposition “with”), z (ze ) (preposition “from”), který (which, which).

The most common nouns in the Czech language are:
pan (pán) (mister (before the surname)), život (life), člověk (person), práce (work, business), ruka (hand), den (day, date), zem (země) (country), lidé (people), doba (period, century, time), hlava (head).

The most common verbs in the Czech language are:
být (to be), mít (to have, to possess), moci (to be able to, to be able to), muset (to be obliged to do something, to have to), vědět (to know, to be able to), chtít (to want, to desire), jít (to go ), říci (to say), vidět (to see), dát se (to start, for example, dat se do pláče start crying).

The most common adjectives in the Czech language are:
celý (whole, whole, complete), velký (veliký) (big), nový (new), starý (old), český (Czech, in Czech), dobrý (good, kind), malý (small), možný ( possible, feasible, probable), živý (živ) (alive, vigorous, temperamental).

If we talk about the frequency of use
Most synonyms describe character hardness: pevný, trvanlivý, odolný, solidní, bytelný, nezdolný, nezmarný, silný, tuhý, kompaktní, hutný, nehybný, nepohyblivý, stanovený, nezměnitelný, neměnný, stálý, ust álený, fixní, stabilní, trvalý, zajištěný, jistý, bezpečný, nepoddajný , nezlomný, nezdolný, neoblomný, nesmlouvavý, houževnatý, sukovitý, neochvějný, rázný, rozhodný, důrazný, odhodlaný, energický, průbojný, průrazný, , hluboky.
Longest word without vowels: scvrnklý (withered, wrinkled).
Longest word that can be read from right to left: nepochoopen (misunderstanding).

As for the frequency of use of different parts of speech in the Czech language, the popularity rating here is as follows: nouns took first place (38.93%), verbs came in second (27.05%), and adjectives came third (20.98%). , fourth adverbs (9.04%), the remaining places with a small gap from each other were divided into pronouns, numerals, conjunctions and prepositions. And Czechs use interjections least of all - only 0.36%. These are some interesting statistics!

In a Czech language lesson:

— How do you say “cow” in Czech?

- Krava.

- What will the “road” be like?

- Draga.

- What about “magpie”?

— …(!!!)

“Strch prst skrz krk”- a normal person will hardly survive. Do you think I'm making it up? This phrase actually exists in the Czech language and is translated as “stick your finger through your throat”... So I say, a normal person would never even think of such a thing.

Terrible Pritelkinya

The first year in Prague was especially difficult for me. If only because my friends called me exclusively “pritelkinya” - girlfriend. The Slavic brothers had no idea how offensive and even indecent this word sounded in the Russian manner. And when they asked me where my cattle were, I was completely speechless. “No, guys, this is too much. I can still be a sidekick, but what does that have to do with rednecks?” If you are asked about “cattle” or, even worse, about “bydlishte”, know that we are talking about place of residence. And if they say that you live in a nice “barracks”, you shouldn’t be offended, because in Czech “barracks” is a house. Among Czechs, in general, the highest degree of praise is one succinct word. When a guy wants to compliment a girl, he says: “Oh, how terrible you are!” Have you already imagined a terrible little girl who lives with cattle in a barracks?

Meat processing plant "Pisek"

Being Russian in Prague is generally very difficult. You seem to be buying vegetables, but they hand you fruit (“ovoce” in Czech - fruit). Instead of a side dish, you can get toadstool. Try and eat it! And although the green sticky mass is actually buckwheat, Czech buckwheat really looks like toadstool. It’s generally better not to go to grocery stores: is it possible to buy food at Potravini? Namely, this is what Czech grocery stores are called. Moreover, the bread there is still “stale” (fresh in Czech), and the sausages are mainly produced at the “Pisek” meat processing plant. The apotheosis of Czech cooking is “sour cigarette butt salad” (“cigarette butts” are cucumbers). Well, are your mouth watering already?

How will the jam be?

Words such as “mydlo” (that is, soap), “letadlo” (airplane), “hodidlo” (foot), “umyvadlo” (sink), “sedadlo” (seat, what did you think?) turned out to be flowers in comparison with what I heard in the first year of living in Prague. By the way, I wonder what you would say “jam” in Czech? Once, while peacefully riding on a catamaran, I heard hoarse screams: “Shame!” Bastard!“ A boat with a catamaran was sailing right towards us, and the helmsman was yelling obscene words at the top of his lungs. Well, who wouldn’t be offended if they called him a bastard, and even a shameful one? Wow! I remembered these words and harbored a grudge against all Czechs. When the right moment came (I was simply cheated in a restaurant), I decided to take revenge, and at the same time show off my updated vocabulary. Well, she told the waiter, shaking her head reproachfully: “Shame, you bastard...” He looked at me for a long time in bewilderment. It turned out that “bad” is just an oar, and “shame” is attention. The man in the boat shouted “Careful, oars!”, wanting to protect me from being hit by the oar.

Popular

What are you doing?!

The Czech language in general is fraught with many surprises. For example, English-speaking tourists get into fights because a polite Czech salesman thanked them for their purchase. “Thank you very much” in Czech sounds something like this: “Dike mouc”, which when pronounced quickly gives the English “Dick e mouse”. And a simple clarification, “What are you talking about?” sounds deadly to an Englishman, because “Fact yo?” What is good for a Czech is a red rag for an English speaker. Another “masterpiece” of the Czech language is Vietnamese Czech. There are a lot of Asians in Prague, and everyone, naturally, has their own pronunciation. So, when leaving their store, you will hear “nassano” as a farewell - “goodbye”, that is. In Czech, “goodbye” is “nassledanou”, but what can you do with the Vietnamese? Nassano, so pissed.

Smelly perfume and funny “oddpad”

“The lady is fragrant all over. They say it stinks. Linguistic information: in the Czech Republic, perfume is a “stink,” as Boris Goldberg writes about the Czech language. And I confirm his observation. If you want to praise the aroma of food, for example, do not rush to compliment “how delicious it smells.” “Stink” is very pleasant to the Czech sense of smell, but “smell” is associated with something rotten and disgusting. That’s why all the girls in the Czech Republic stink of perfume, and garbage the bins smell. By the way, trash cans (well, since they smell delicious) are called “oddpad” accordingly. If the “odpad” is mixed, then it is simply called “funny odpad”. Fans of Russian slang really like words like “grab” (understand), “palivo” (fuel), “sranda” (no, no, this is a joke), “mraz” (frost) and “bribe” (payment). And many of our tourists still cannot forget the advertising slogan on the Coca-Cola billboard: “Finished the creature” (this is not what you thought, it means “perfect creation”).

Super Vaclav to the rescue

Cosmopolitan readers probably got the impression that incomprehensible gop-style people live, or rather live in the Czech Republic. But this is not true at all! Czechs are very friendly and well-mannered people. I was convinced of this myself when I took the dog out for a walk. “Dog waste” in Europe is usually collected in a special bag and taken to the trash (you and I remember that trash cans in the Czech Republic are “oddpad”). Violators of this rule are monitored by a superhero, or rather Super-Vaclav (we are in the Czech Republic He forces the owners to pick up the “weapon of mass destruction” with their hands and carry it home, and coats those who do not with this very weapon, while smiling friendly and saying “Dike mouz”, “Dick e mouse”, “Fact yo? "
While walking around Prague, choose your expressions! And “Shame! Police varue" (“Attention! Police warn”).